Home Pistol Lock Box On Sale

[BonoVox]

At Turners.

Turner's Outdoorsman

These are great. I can open mine in the dark in a second or two. Mechanical with batteries to worry about. You can mount them to something solid too. Great for a nightstand gun if you have kids etc.

$89 normally $129. This is where my CCW goes every night when I go to bed.

[TaxMan]

I prefer the MiniVault, only $10 more. I have one of my own, works great.

[WKC]

I think you mean NO Batteries. I have a similar unit and I totally agree that the mechanical lock is much better. I had it for years with no problems.

On the same ad, they show the Mini Vault for sale. I would not recommend the Mini Vault. I have one and it failed on me in just over a year of use. Of course, it it out of the warranty period. The weakness in the design is the use of a very thin cable to connect the actuator to the lock latch. This was the failure point in my unit. The only way to open the box now is to use the key which I keep in the other box which is secured by a mechanical Simplex lock.

[Glock32]

I have a Mini Vault. That sucker eats batteries like nothing I have ever seen.

[IAmASensFan]

Originally Posted by BonoVox

At Turners.

Turner's Outdoorsman

These are great. I can open mine in the dark in a second or two. Mechanical with batteries to worry about. You can mount them to something solid too. Great for a nightstand gun if you have kids etc.

$89 normally $129. This is where my CCW goes every night when I go to bed.

THe battery powered lockboxes normally have a low battery alarm, so i don't know why people tend to worry about them.

I had one for 2 years, and the batteries never died on me. It was one of those Minivault 2000's

Now I just use a small keylock box, and each night I remove the gun and put it in my IR bag, then lock it back up in the morning.

[WKC]

I have the Gun Vault. From the time I installed it to the cable fail rendering the push button lock inoperative, I changed batteries between every 2 to 5 months. That's eight AA batteries every time. After every battery change, you have to reprogram the lock ... again! At least you will get very good at reprogramming it.

It does have a low battery alarm but when it gos off in the middle of the night, you just wonder what the hell that noise is? It is just loud enough to be annoying so you wake up to try to listen for it. Then it does not repeat till after you go back to sleep. So between the smoke alarm, the CO detector, the clocks in the room, it took a while before I isolated the source.

[K-dog.v3]

Originally Posted by WKC

I think you mean NO Batteries. I have a similar unit and I totally agree that the mechanical lock is much better. I had it for years with no problems.

On the same ad, they show the Mini Vault for sale. I would not recommend the Mini Vault. I have one and it failed on me in just over a year of use. Of course, it it out of the warranty period. The weakness in the design is the use of a very thin cable to connect the actuator to the lock latch. This was the failure point in my unit. The only way to open the box now is to use the key which I keep in the other box which is secured by a mechanical Simplex lock.

mine did the same thing. I opened and closed it twice a day for a year. I have another one that I only open once a week. They do not take too much abuse.

[BonoVox]

Originally Posted by WKC

I think you mean NO Batteries. I have a similar unit and I totally agree that the mechanical lock is much better. I had it for years with no problems.

On the same ad, they show the Mini Vault for sale. I would not recommend the Mini Vault. I have one and it failed on me in just over a year of use. Of course, it it out of the warranty period. The weakness in the design is the use of a very thin cable to connect the actuator to the lock latch. This was the failure point in my unit. The only way to open the box now is to use the key which I keep in the other box which is secured by a mechanical Simplex lock.

Yeah typo sorry! NO BATTERIES!!! I actually have another brand that is pretty much the same. Have not changed batteries in 15 years. LOL BECAUSE NO BATTERIES!

I like mechanical in this type of tool. I actually bought the one on the ad for my dad probably 5 years ago. It is well built. I am serious I can open it with one hand in the dark in less than 2 seconds. Probably faster than you could open your nightstand drawer.

[ptbarnacle]

I've had the mini vault for a few years now and replaced the batteries a couple times. Once just as a preventative. I love it. I put my CCW in there every night. It hold an extra CCW gun in the back so I can switch without a trip to the safe. And a gun is available for the wife when I'm not home. Wife is able to open it quickly as well. For the last 4 months, it has opened and closed twice a day with no problems. It is hard mounted and makes a great quick safe. If it failes, I will post.

I was looking at buying another. YMMV I guess.

[WKC]

The Simplex mechanical lock, like the one shown in the ad on sale for $89.98, is reliable and simple to use. I don't have one to take apart so I don't know the failure modes but I know it does not cease to work because the batteries are low.

If you intend to use the electronic locks on a box that you may need to get into in an emergency, I would suggest replacing the batteries on a regular bases, ie hard time the batteries. For the Gun Vaults, the low battery indicator is only activated after you have entered the correct access code. Here is the description of the Low Battery Indicator Warning from the owner's manual for the Multi Vault:

The low battery indication on standard models is seven red flashes and seven soft beeps when the valid access code is entered. This indication means that insufficient power is available from the battery tray - unit may continue to work normally, but the batteries must be changed immediately.

[Bombard]

I have 2 mini vaults, I inherited them from my dad. He had them for 5 years and didn't replace the batteries, they worked fine. I've had them for 4 years and have replaced them once, out of caution.

I only open them a couple of times a month, though.

[Glock32]

Originally Posted by Bombast

I have 2 mini vaults, I inherited them from my dad. He had them for 5 years and didn't replace the batteries, they worked fine. I've had them for 4 years and have replaced them once, out of caution.

I only open them a couple of times a month, though.

I never open mine and the low battery beep goes off every 2 months or so. I hate it. I would buy the one with the power cord.

[ptbarnacle]

Originally Posted by Glock32

I never open mine and the low battery beep goes off every 2 months or so. I hate it. I would buy the one with the power cord.

Something to think about. I caught my kids replacing the batteries in their own toys! The two young ones where using a screwdriver and the 10 year old was directing! Very cool until I noticed they did not put away my screwdriver. So, as we where putting away the screwdriver, i asked where they put the old batteries. "Oh, we put them back." They put them in the drawer with the new ones. Just something to consider.

[IAmASensFan]

Originally Posted by Glock32

I never open mine and the low battery beep goes off every 2 months or so. I hate it. I would buy the one with the power cord.

Until the BG flips the switch in your breaker box.

I think the logical conclusion is to buy many different types of guns and safe mechanisms and stash them all over the house.

[BonoVox]

BTW the one I listed will hold two handguns.

I might pick up another. Stashing one downstairs bolted to something.

Then one by the bed that I currently have.